A communication plan must be revisited from time to time, especially in our fast-evolving technological age. iGeneration kids seem to change communication forms every year/month/WEEK. But you can evolve with them if you continue to ask the question from time to time – “How can I best get the word out to you?”

You DON’T have to communicate in every form known to humanity. In fact, trying to do so may even make your communication more muddy as constituents search high and low for the information that they need. If you ask, they will tell you the best ways to get them important information.

So What’s a Communication Plan?

I’m glad you asked! Basically, it lists four things – constituencies, forms of communication, types of information each constituency needs, and how often they will receive that information. And the communication plan should be shared with everyone related to the ministry. In that way they know where to look for what types of information.

A quick youth ministry sample might look like this below. Of course, you’ll know this isn’t an exhaustive example. If you want a more complete communication plan, email me at [email protected].

CONSTITUENCY

COMMUNICATION FORM

INFORMATION

TIME FRAME

Parents

Email

Schedule, updates

Weekly

Parents

Registration brochure

Events, deadlines

Semi-annual

Youth

Group text

Reminders

Weekly

Adult volunteers

Email

Assignments

Weekly

Besides Jesus, Information Is One of the Best Things You Can Share with People

Conclusion

So ask! They will tell you what you need to know to communicate effectively!

If you want to explore more about what this looks like or see more examples of communication plans, email me at [email protected]. I’d love to spend some time helping to get the word out in your ministry.

Introduction

On March 1, 2018 Michael Dimock, President of the Pew Research Center, shared in an article called “Defining Generations: Where Millennials End and Post-millennials Begin” that the Pew Center would use the year 1996 as the last year of the Millennial Generation. And while there is some disagreement amongst experts in the fields of sociology, psychology, and demographic studies about the dating of this transition between generations, it is very clear that our culture has moved on generationally into a post-Millennial generation and maybe even a second.

Hindsight is 20/20

It is important to note that much generational knowledge is developed in hindsight. While pivotal moments in history (such as the Great Depression of the 1930s or such as the events of 9/11/2001), which help to mark the timing of generations, are generally apparent, the effects of these pivotal moments need to be observed over time in order to determine their impact. It is also important to understand that as we speak of generations we are speaking in terms of sweeping generalizations – more in terms of culture and eras and less in terms of our next door neighbors and days in the week.

Millennials – A Treasured Generation

Many of today’s youth ministry professionals are a part of the Millennial Generation (currently around 18-40 years old), perhaps the most treasured and protected generation of children ever born. According to authors William Strauss and Neil Howe in Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584-2069, the Millennials came of age and to the forefront in 1987 when little 18-month old Jessica McClure of Midland, Tx, was rescued from a backyard well where she had been trapped for nearly 60 hours. The event captured the nation for three days and nights and became expressive of how Millennial children would be treated. The parents of Millennials invented car seats to protect them and developed a whole new type of vehicle (the minivan) to safely ferry them to soccer practice and on vacation. Life revolved around the Millennial childhood, focused more on the childhood “trophy” goals of these treasured children than on the adulthood success and retirement goals of their parents.

But Millennials are also characterized as bright, service-minded, driven achievers. Who have taken the resources and opportunities of a modern, technological, internet age and applied them to the tasks at hand. They see a much larger world and view it as their own, travelling and exploring the globe as part of their educational cycles or “gap years” as they can manage them, and googling their way to places heretofore unknown.

The Transition

While the Pew Center has drawn the line of Millenial conclusion at 1996, there is no clear consensus about that date. No wonder then that I would choose an alternate – the year 2000. Here are the reasons:

Well, duh, it was the end of the millenium. Those of us who were around remember all the hoopla about how the world would fall apart. Y2K would cause the world’s computer systems to crash, and we would be left dangling on the end of a technological thread. Of course, it was not a technological apocalypse, but it was definitely the end of something – in my mind, the end of a generation.

9/11/2001 happened. And this tragic event changed how we looked at the world. Coming only two years following the school shooting at Columbine, CO, in April of 1999, 9/11 was as indelibly etched into the American mind as December 7, 1941 (the attack on Pearl Harbor). Sure, we had treasured and protected Millennials with car seats, but the 9/11 attacks graphically displayed a whole new threat for a whole new generation in a way that most in American society had never seen.

2001 was the year of the iPod, the first device in a whole new generation of technology. And while there was some resistance to being “named” using a term associated with a major corporate brand, the term “iGeneration” (a term first coined by social psychologist Jean Twenge) was one of the most popular names emerging from a New York Times poll of post-Millennials.

If this is the case, this year’s class of college freshmen, the Class of 2021, are the last of the Millennials that will enter college. Then in 2019, the iGeneration will begin to join their Millennial cousins on campus.

The iGeneration (or Generation Z)

While the earliest iGen children were 6 when the first smartphones came out in 2007, this generation has been characterized as being “always on” and constantly connected to their peers. One grandmother who responded to the Times’ poll even suggested calling this generation “The Thumbies,” based on the digits they use to communicate most often. We find iGens at restaurants enthralled by iPads and smartphones, replacing televisions as new mobile babysitters of the present age.

Like their predecessors, the iGeneration is highly protected, but the threats to their well-being are perceived to be even more severe, particularly in light of global turmoil, school shootings, internet predators, identity thieves, and the remnants of economic recession. While these things are of great concern to the parents of the iGeneration, they are things that iGens seem to accept as just “part of life.” And as they make their way into adulthood, these iGens will provide more technological expertise to assist their older Millennial cousins who were the early adopters of a rapidly exploding connective technology.

Where Do We Go From Here?

In the thinking of Strauss and Howe, Millennials, much like the G.I. Generation, will lead the world through a pending global crisis which is yet to be determined. This crisis could arise from global terrorism, from the remnants of the nuclear age, from early mismanagement of high technology, from worldwide economic depression, or any number of other global catastrophic events.

The birth years of the iGeneration are coming to a close, and iGens will begin moving into adulthood in 2019 and into a world of ever-increasing high tech gadgetry which few of them have been schooled to make, manage, or maintain.

While it is conjecture at this point, a whole new generational cycle and a new generation with a new vision, perhaps an A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) Generation, are just around the corner. (Will their birth year correspond to the first year that autonomous driving cars enter the retail market?) This generation will manage and supervise the evolution of the internet of things and a whole new age of high-tech interconnectivity.

That A.I. Generation could then be followed by a reactive “techno-minimalist” generation which objects to the excesses of reliance upon technology and seeks to find once again what it means to be fully human, seeking to reconnect with one another and with the natural environment around them.

What Difference Does It Make to Your Youth Ministry?

Questions that iGens are asking:

Who can keep me safe?

The March 22, 2018 USA Today newspaper section led with the following top headline: “Shootings a fear that defines a generation.” iGens are feeling more and more threatened in their school settings and, in light of the recent school shooting in Florida, are increasingly prone to take the issue of their safety into their own hands. Youth ministries must take the issue of providing a secure environment very seriously, reassuring iGens that caring adults will provide protection and that God cares for and loves them deeply.

Why can’t my church communicate in the modern ways that I communicate?

Every youth ministry needs a communication plan that lays out how it will communicate with its various constituencies – students, parents, leaders, church members, etc. Different generations communicate differently and only through careful attention will the right information get into the right hands.

When am I supposed to sleep?

Sleep professionals are seeing a growing number of teenagers who are sleep deprived, lured by being constantly in touch with friends at all hours or by binge watching of their favorite media. Ministry professionals will need to help this generation learn personal disciplines and boundaries.

Will there be a job for me?

Like their Millennial cousins, iGens are wondering how they will make a living, not so much because they saw the economy fall apart like the Millenials did, but because they are seeing the high rate of innovation at work, and they are wondering if they will be prepared to keep up with the pace.

I’m communicating all the time, but why don’t I have really close friends?

The iGeneration is becoming aware that there is more to relationships than dashing off a quick text or tweet. They are more engaging than their cocooning GenX parents and grandparents, but because they are so driven, they often don’t make the time to take their relationships to deeper levels.

This question for iGens will become more intense for the next generation as they face a whole new class of “individuals” with whom to interact, the physical expressions of artificial intelligence, giving rise to a whole new redefining of what it means to be in relationship.

Questions the A.I. Generation will be asking:

If my “assistant” can do so much of the work, why should I put forth any effort?

With all this technology to help me, do I really need friends?

Why do I have to GO to school or to an office? Couldn’t I just do school or work at home?

If my car can take the responsibility of transporting me home, why would it matter what I put into my body?

If we keep innovating, can we eventually work ourselves out of working?

When does virtual reality become reality?

Are there any limits to our technology?

Conclusion

It is indeed a brave new world into which iGen adults and their offspring A.I.s are moving, and they will be often caught up in a torrid pace of innovation. How will the church keep up? First, the Church will need to offer what it always has – the life-changing love and grace of God in very real and authentic ways. Second, it will need to innovate itself, offering its best in dynamic new ways to new generations that communicate differently and that struggle with new questions in a rapidly changing world.

It’s 2018, and social media is here to stay. Students are using it, and if we want to reach them so should we! Whether or not we personally like social media or not, we can’t afford to ignore it.

Unfortunately, too many youth workers are either not using social media or aren’t using it well. In order to reach students far from God, we have to be where they’re at. Almost all students are on social media in one form or another, which means we have to be there too. Not only that, but we also need to do it well.

So you’re ready to step into social media and use it to impact your community, but maybe you don’t know how. While I don’t have a magic trick to fix all of your social media woes overnight, I can share 3 keys to using it well and having a better online reach tomorrow.

3 Keys to Reaching Students with Social Media

1) People Over Products

Most youth ministries I see on social media break this rule. Post after post they promote events and programs. If you look at their feeds, you will notice they’re all about products.

You see, products don’t have to be something you sell for money, just something you sell. Posting about an event is selling a product. Posting about your weekly program is a product. The problem is products won’t sell students on your ministry.

Products won’t get students to church. People will. The world is all about selling products, but the Church has to be about something better. The Church is made up of the people of God, and it’s people that will make the difference.

Think about it. How many people have you met who came to church because of of polished Instagram post? How many students have given their lives to Christ and seen their lives changed because of a promotional youth group tweet? My guess is the answer is a big goose egg.

Now, it’s important to note that products aren’t inherently bad. There’s nothing wrong with promoting an event. The key is to do it strategically.

According to Michael Hyatt, on social media it’s more important to give than receive. If products are withdrawals and encouragement and helpful content are deposits, Hyatt teaches we should make 10 deposits for every withdrawal. What about your ministry’s social media accounts? Is your timeline full of deposits or withdrawals?

The most engaging posts for our student ministry have one thing in common: they feature people. Why, because people are real and people matter.

A post about camp that looks incredible might garner 50 likes and 0 comments. A post about a student being baptized will receive hundreds of likes and a variety comments. Posts with and about people make your ministry feel real.

Students want relationships that are real. Showing real people like them who have experienced life change makes for great social media! Want to win at social media with students? Post about people over products.

2) Consistent Over Flashy

When it comes to social media, consistency is huge! It’s important to decide your youth ministry’s digital identity and stick to it. A consistent approach will go a lot farther than a couple of great posts a month.

As a matter of fact, if your ministry runs social media with a flash in the pan mentality, students are likely to miss your best posts when you make them! Flashy posts can be great, but they are not nearly as impactful as a consistent social media presence.

If you’re new to ministry through social media, the best thing to do is make a few decisions up front. Maybe you’ve been using social media in your ministry for a while, but it’s time for a reboot. Either way, you’ll be better when you decide on a social media identity and develop a plan to stay consistent with it.

One important decision to make is about how many times your ministry will post per week. Part of this depends on your ministry culture, and part of it depends on the social media platform you’re using. For instance, twitter will allow for multiple posts per day while too many on Instagram will win you an unfollow.

For us, we have decided on 3-5 quality posts a week. It’s not necessarily better than posting more or less, but it is our digital identity. Not only that, but we work hard to stay consistent at it. Less than three posts in a week and students will notice. It works the same way if we post more often.

Quality matters in social media, but consistency is absolutely vital. What’s your youth ministry’s social media identity? Do students know what to consistently expect from you week to week?

3) Relevant Over Right

I’m a firm believer that the Church should never sacrifice truth for relevancy. However, I’m also a believer that social media is not the place to preach truth and morality. Our goal is to get student’s involved in the conversation about God, not to yell at them one sided from behind the veil of social media.

The wrong message on social media is the 2018 version of “Turn or Burn” on a church sign. It doesn’t help, and it’s not good ministry. We want to reach students for Christ, not run them away before they ever step foot in a church!

I’m a truth guy. I love sharing God’s Word with people, even the tough stuff. However, on social media my goal is to to encourage more than correct. If we want to reach students, we might want to encourage them before we correct them.

In addition to encouragement, I want to use social media in ministry to engage students in relevant conversations about God. When the world seems to be going crazy, social media is a great place to start the conversation. It’s a great way to let students know God has something to say about things like racism and sexuality. Social media is a great place to start the conversation, but I prefer to leave the controversial stuff for face to face time.

When it comes to social media in ministry, I think we should always choose being relevant over being right. Share truth about what’s relevant to students struggles, not truth for the sake of truth. If we use social media in a relevant way, we are guaranteed to have more crucial conversations down the road.

Let me leave you with this philosophical quandary. If you share incredible truth on social media but no one follows you to see it, did you really make and impact? With social media, relevance is key.

How is your youth ministry using social media? Where are you winning? Where can you get better?

There may not be much that our society agrees on these days, but I think we can agree on this one thing: social media is an essential tool for connecting families to our ministries. No matter which platform you choose to use, social media helps keep families in the know in a timely manner, in engaging ways.

It can be easy to get overwhelmed with all of the platforms and options available today. Figure out which two or three platforms are the best for your ministry. In our experience, Facebook and Instagram are two of the best for engaging with families.

Once you have chosen your platforms, you may still find yourself staring at your computer or phone screen, fingers poised to type, but mind blank. We are here to help!

Here are seven things that parents are looking for from your social media:

Help me see what my kids are doing.

Almost all parents ask their kids the same question in the car on the way home from church. “How was church? Did you have fun?” And kids often give vague answers like “Good.” It can be difficult for parents to really know what’s going on in your ministry! Help them “see” by posting pictures of their kids in action. Take a picture of them worshipping, or doing an activity, or listening attentively to the Bible Story. You can even reference the Bible Story and let them know where they can go in their own Bible to read it again with their kids!

Be a resource for me.

Help your parents by posting things like which local restaurants they can take their kids to eat for free after church on Sundays, or boredom-buster ideas, rainy-day ideas, etc. Promote community events as well as your church-wide events.

Interact with me.

Post some questions that parents can ask their children around the dinner table or while they are in the car together. Then ask parents to share how their kids replied! You can get some very funny, or some very poignant interaction this way.

Don’t overload me.

You want to give enough information, but not so much that parents are overwhelmed. Don’t cross-link accounts so that what you post on Instagram also posts to your Facebook account. You can post about the same material, but present it different ways.

But remind me frequently.

If there is an event coming up, post about it multiple times. The day of the event is a nice reminder, but make sure that’s not the only time they hear about the event.

Create Facebook events and invite me.

If you have a fun event coming up in your ministry, create a Facebook event that parents can share with their friends. Sometimes inviting people to church is hard and scary, and this makes it easier!

Make me laugh.

Life is stressful. Posting funny pictures and videos helps people de-stress, and parents can have a great laugh with their kids!

So, flex those fingers and get ready to post about your ministry! When you do, you’ll be creating a connection point that may play a part in lives being changed for eternity.

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Ministry Architects is a highly-skilled team of pastors, teachers, executives, youth workers, children's pastors, writers and professors. We're fanatical about success and we can help your church find clear direction and sustained momentum backed up by properly aligned resources.